Cross-slide mechanism



June: Ax, Hi: JOB ERI' GEMS-SLIDE MEGHEN ISMI Filled Nov. 263,, L940 4Sheds-Sheet 1 INVENTORS llll 4277/02 H. JOBERT JEfOME J. TARA VE'LLAATTORNEYS June 27, 1944. A; H. J'QBERT AL, CROSS-SLIDE; MEcHANisM FiledNow 26, 194% 4 sheafis sheet 2 INVENTORS ARTHUR H. JOBEET JEI$OME J.7464 VELLA ATTO R N EYS June 1944. A; JOBERT ETAL 2,352,548

CROSS SLIDE MECHANISM Filed Nov. 26) 1940 4 SheerLs-Sheet a lllw 5% ATTOR N EYS dmous J. 73424 VE'LL A June 27, A JOBERT ETAL cRoss-sLIbE MEcHANIsM Filed Nov. 26; 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTORS AETHUR H. JOBE'ET ae/-45 J. EPA I/ELLA ATTORNEYS plitude of reciprocation. ,7

Patented June 27, 1944 UNITED STATES 2,352,548 we I CROSS-SLIDEMECHANISM Arthur H. Jobert and Jerome,

its-

Britain, Conn, assignors to The-New Britain Machine Company, NewBritain, Conn., 'ac0r-' poration of Connecticut ApplicationNovember 26,1940, Serial No. 367,168 l 10 Claims.

Our invention relates to improvements in slide mechanisms, andparticularly to cross-slide mechanisms for machines, such as lathes,multiple-spindle screw machines, and the like.

It is customary in machines of the character indicated to employ cammingmeans ,for moving the. forming and other tools operated from crossslides. Hitherto, the flexibility or adaptability of suchmachines toproducing various sizes of work has either been limited to work whichmay be turned out with one, set of cross-slide cams, or it has beennecessary to have a multiplicity of inter-v changeable cams to adapt themachine to the type of work being produced. Not only is ituneconomicalto have to carry a large stock of such cams on hand, butalarge amount of labor is .involved in the replacementof these partsaccording to the variety of work to be produced.

we propose a relatively simple device which will eliminate the necessityofqchanging cross! slide'cams and which will adapt the machine to a.

wide variety of operations and uses. 7

It is an object of the invention to provide improved cross-slide feedingmeans in machines of the character indicated.

Another object is the provision in such machines of improved means forjump-feeding tools up to the work prior to a relatively slow workingfeed. i

It is another object of the invention to provide means for deriving ayariety of reciprocal strokes within a constantor substantially constantam- ,Aifurther object is theprovision of means for variously relatingthe jump to the feed stroke in a machine of .the character, indicatedwithout changing the total period for beth jump and feed motions l. Itisalso an object of this invention to' provide meansfor obtaining variouslengths of jump and feed, strokes without altering the total of both thejumpand the feed stroke. r v

Still another object resides in provision of improved ,means forproducing a plurality of toolfeeding motions, without disturbing theca'mor other meansfrom whichthe tool-feeding motion isderived.-.. Otherobjects and various features of the in vention will become apparent tothose skilled in theart from a reading of the following specification inconjunction with. the drawings included herewith, which show, forillustrative purposes only, a preferred embodiment of the invention,andinwhich-., 7 Fig.1 is an end elevation, partly broken away,

20 work;

showinga I conventional v multi-s pindle ,rnachine having cross-slides,operated through the medium of a device illustrativeof this invention;

Fig. 2 is a-detailedview,partly-llorokenaway,

and illustrating features .of the invention, ,the mechanism beingshownin position correspond-v ing to a fully retracted position ofthecross-slide tools; 1 u I t v .1

Fig. 3 is a partlybroken-away, sectional. plan of parts shown in Fig. 2,and as viewed substani Fig- 4 and takenin generally vertical, centralplane s.

' Fig. 6 is a detailed elevation similar toFig. '2,

but illustrating the relation of 'p'artS after the jump and jut priortoa gradual feed into the "Fig.- '7 is another detailedelevationfsimilanto' Figs. 2 and 6, but illustrating the relation ofparts at the end of the working stroke; 7

Fig. 8 is an enlarged isometric view of a detail;

At the outset let it be understood that the terms,

slide and (cross-slide, ashereinafter useddu this'speeification,' ofcours e 'refer not only to the slidesof the' 'general nature shown inthe draw ings, but also include'alltool-advancing means,

such as tool carriers which maydepnd upon 'rotation to feed atoolje'nd-working tool slides, and thelike.

Our invention in theform illustrated includes an" adjustable meansdisposed in the customary linkage for "operating cross slides'fronia'maiii cam shaft.- By means ofadjust'men'ts which 'mayeasily be made,it is possible to provide" for an adjustablejum'por relatively fast feedup toth work, followedby' an'adjusta'ble 'relatively'slow 40 cutting'feed in the wo'rkall with one "standard driving cam or other 'drivemeansff For illustrative purposes, and byway of "example only, we haveshown'our invention in.

Fig; 1 in conjunction with an automatically in; dexing eight-spindlem'achinei Four cross-slides holding forming or cutting-(iii tools, as"is customary, are positioned for working in the four spindle positionsshown in this elevation. 'In the form shown all cross-slideunitsare'mounted on the frame 5 of the'machin'eI Sli'desli and 1, for

spindles 2 "and l3, respectively, are" likewise mounted as a'unit;but,=in the' 'forni shownfthey' purpose.

operate together and with the same feeding motion.

Motion for jump-feeding and work-feeding the cross-slides is derivedfrom any desired feeding means, and in the form shown, cams, carried bycam disks I4 and I5, are provided for this However, we propose toprovide additional means between the cam and cross-slide. Thisadditional means, which forms part of the subject of the presentinvention, is illustrated more clearly in the enlarged detail views ofFigs. 2, 3, 4, and 5.

In the form shown mechanism according to our invention forms aconnection between the cam-follower arm I5 and a crank I'Lwhich in turnacts directly on the tool-slide to propel or retract the same. This linkor mechanism is preferably a plate I8, which is slidable in a generallylongitudinal direction, as determined by the ways or'tracks I9 and 20,respectively. The guideways I9 and are shown as formed on the block orbase 21. Retaining guide-plate members 22 and 23, extending out and overthe cut"- out portions defining tracks I9 and 20, respectively, are heldsecurely in place by bolts 24,

which bolts further serve to seat the base 21 rigidly on the frame 5 ofthe machine; The plate I8 is provided with opposed parallel edges 25 and26, so as to fit slidably within the corresponding tracks I9 and All.The cam-follower I6 andthe plate I8 are pivotally connected as bymeansof the pin 21., The lever "is actuated by the plate I8. throughmeans, such as an ad-' justable connecting pin-roller 29. Algenerallyvertically extending dovetail slot 28 is preferably provided on theplate I9 in order to a'ccom modate a dovetail on thepin-roller 29 whichmaythus. beadjustably. secured to plate I8, as

by a clamping bolt 3f, in a definite position for.

control purposes which will later become apparent.

It will be seen how longitudinal reciprocal greater accuracy in settingup, as will be clear;

Inorde'r'to provide for two different speeds'of the cross-slide from onegiven stroke of the camfollower arm I6, we make possible an additionalmotion of the plate I8. We terminate the longitudinal guided motion,which has been described above, by running a pin 33, fixed to the plate,against a'stop; and thereafter cam-follower-arm motion may be translatedinto a rotary motion of'plate I8 about pin 33. as will be clear. Afterpin 33 abuts the end' of a slot 3'4 in base plate 2l'to forma pointabout which rotation may take place, an arcuate edge 35 of plate I8,arcuate about the pin 33, has reached the end of the strai ht tracki l(see Fig. 4) and is positioned to slide within thecorrespondinglyrecessed arcuate track portion 35. of the base plate-2L A portion of theupper edge of the plate I8 is cut off so that rotary.motion thereof ispermitted without fouling the straight track I9, as will also be clear.

It will be noted that, depending upon the location of the pin-roller 29in the dovetail slot 28, the crank I? may be given any movement, rangingfrom zero to a maximum, during the period of rotary motion of plate I8.Zero movement will be obtained when pin-roller 29 is positioned directlyabove, and concentric with, the stopping pin 33; and a maximum movementwill result from securing the pin 29 at the bottom of slot 28.

It will be understood that the type of motion obtained with ourwobble-plate device is a relativelyfastfeed or transposition of crank IIthroughout the first part of the cam-followerarm stroke, that is whilethe plate I8 slides on the guides I9, 23; and a, variable, relativelyslow feed throughout the remainder of the same stroke, that is while theplate I8 rocks about the pivot 33., In the machine shown, use may bemade of the first fast feed to obtain a jump feed or relatively rapidadvance of a tool up to the Work, and of the variable gradual motion forfeeding the tool. Upon retraction, or rather, on the return half of thecycle through which the cam-followerarm travels, plate I8 will gothrough the same series. of motionsand, of course, in reverse order tothat followed for feed; that is, there will be a slow retraction of thetool in the immediate vicinity of the work, followed by a fast or. jumpretraction, rapidly to'clear the tool from the work to permit freeindexing. Jamming the wobble plate I8 within therotary track, as thejump retraction, begins, is avoided by provision of a guiding stop 31,positioned to abut the generally arcuate upper left edge 38 of. late I8at all'times exceptwhenv plate IB is in alignment with the straight waysI9 and 29 to slide back freely along the same. Atthis instant the guidestop 31 will be opposite a corresponding slot 39 in plate I8, and freeguided sliding is permitted down the substantially straight ways I9 and20.

The cycle of operations and successive positions of the wobble plate I8will be clear from an examination of Figs. 2,, 6, and 7, in that order.The roller-pin 29 has been fixed in an intermediate position along thedovetail slot 28 for a relatively small feed, as will be understood.Fig. 2

'- shows the relationship of the driving members just prior tojump-feeding the tool up to the work, that is, the cam-.follower-roll 40on camfollower-arm I6 is about to engage the jumpfeeding surface 4| ofcam I4. With thefast jump-feeding motion derived therefrom, theparcomplished, the guide stop 31 has-left engage ment with the guideslide 39, pivot pin 33 has abutted the end of slot 34, and the curvedsurface 35 of plate I8 is in position to slide within the arcuategrooved track 36. As the cam-follower-arm I 6 is slowly urged further bythe working-feed surface 42 of cam I4 throughout that portion of thestroke (from the position shown in Fig. 6 to that in Fig. 7), the wobbleplate is forced to rotate, and thus to carry pin-roller 29 through anare (which in the case shown is relatively small) and at the same timeto impart a reduced feeding motion to the cross-slide by means of thesector gear 43, on crank I'I engaging a rack on the cross-slide. p

After the end of the cam-feed surface .42 has been reached, thecam-follower-roll 49 is immediately engaged by the draw-back surface440i cam l4 in order quickly to clear all tools from the work so that nowork or tools will be fouled upon indexing, which in the form shown ispermitted to take place within almost a half-revolution of cam l4 by thelong dwell which may be observed on the cam-surface 44.

Several forms of cross-slide to which the wobble plate adjustable linkmay be adapted are shown in Fig.. 1 in connection 'with 'an eightspindlemachine. It will be clear thatthe form which has been described'indetail has referred to mechanism for operating cross-slides l and II atspindle stations I2 and I3, respectively. In the form shown,.slides l0and] l are unitarily mounted and are guided and supported in theirsliding motion by means of the sleeve 45, which fits slidably around aguidingstub-shaft 46. A

rack 41, aflixed'to the cross-slide unit [0+H,

engages the sector gear 43 of arm I! to pick up the feed motions whichhave already been described in detail. Thus, the single cam l4,operating through the ,wobble plate I8 and the rack and sector gears,may operate two forming tools with feed which may be controlled byadjusting the pin-roller 28, made readily accessible by means, such as asliding door panel 48.

Fig. 1 further shows how the two additional slides 6 and I may becontrolled to have motions independent of each other, although they aredriven from the same cam shaft (which in the form shown is geared torotate in 1:1 ratiowith the shaft ofcam I4). Considering operation ofslide 1, the linkages concerned are essentially thesame as those forslides It! and l l. The cam follower-arm 49 reciprocates in a generallyvertical direction to actuate the wobble plate unit 50 and thusadjustably to rock the slide-control double-arm or bell-crank 5| forjump and work feeding, as will be clear from an appreciation of thepivotal connection of bell-crank 5| toslide I at, say, the point 52. Ina similar manner, motion for slide 6 may be picked up by cam-followerarm 53 from the same cam surface on cam l5 as was used for cam-followerarm 49. This motion is again communicated to wobble-plate link 54 andthen transmitted by double-arm-crank means 55 to slide 6 at the pivotalconnection 56 between the latter two members.

It will be clear that by making the setting of the pin-roller onwobble-pla 54 different from that on plate 50, two independent anddistinctly diiferent feeds will be offered slides 6 and 1, although theymay both be controlled and operated by identical or similar cams on diskl5.

It will be observed; from a viewing of Figs. 2, 6, and '7, that, nomatter what the vertical disposition of the pin-roller 29, the total ofthe jump and the feed stroke may be maintained constant by employing acam l4 of suitable throw for the particular location of crank 11. At thestart of the jump stroke (Fig, 2) it will be noted that the pin-rollerslot 30 on crank l'l overstands the dovetail slot 28 on theWobble-plate. From such a disposition of these two slots it will beclear that the tool starting position, as determined by the angularityof crank II, will be the same no matter where pin-roller 29 happens tobe located in these slots. The same may be said of the finishpositionthat is, at the end of the feed stroke (see Fig. 7)at whichpoint the two slots 28 and 30 overstand one another once again. Itfollows from this relationship that, no matter these slots, the toolW111 stop reading at mesame point. p In other words, thetoolstartingan'd'finish points being the'same whatever the location of pin-roller 29along slot 28, the total of jump and feed strokes may be the same-such arelationship only arising if the cam l4 has been designed to give aproper'stroke, ashas been indicated above." f"

It is, of course, to'be understood that theform shown for the trackthrough which the wobbleplate slides is merely for-illustrativepurposes. Track courses, giving rise to motions otherthan the straightand rotary travel involved in the instant example, 'may be employed, andthese need not even'be of a'discontinuous nature'to accomplishsubstantially the same result as'is here obtained that is, a relativelyfast jumpfeed followed by a working feed.-

Furthermore, while a cam means,'inparticular the cam I4, has been shownas the driving means for cross-slide operation, various othermotionderiving means may be used; and such other motion-generating meansmay include cranks,

eccentrics, or other likemeans. l

Therefore, itis to be understood that, although the invention has beenshown in conjunction with a pair of cross-slides operated -'asa unit,the

. features of the inventionmay be adapted to mawhat theverticaldisposition of pin-roller 29 in chines having any configuration ofslides, in-

' eluding a machine having'all cross slides operating independently ofeach otherand even several cross slides to a spindle.

We have provided relatively simple means for accomplishing great savingsin the-1abor, time, and cost of setting up-machines of the generalcharacter indicated. Although this means has been particularly describedin a preferred-form in connection with cross slides on a multiplespindle machine, it is, of coursefnot so intended to be limited; and itis 'to beunderstood that various changes, additions, modifications, andomissions may be made within the scope of the invention as defined inthe appended claims. -Weclaim:

1. A rocking member for transmitting motion from a driving member to adriven member, pivot means for said rocking member, substantiallystraight line guide means for said rocking member, driving means forsaidrocking member for bodily traversing said pivot means with said rockingmember along said guide means and for rocking said rocking member aboutsaid pivot means, and means for pivotally connecting a driven member tosaid rocking member, for the purpose described.

2. A rocking member for transmitting motion from a driving member to adriven member, pivot means for said rocking member, driving means forsaid rocking member for bodily traversing said pivot means with saidrocking member along a substantially straight path and for rocking saidrocking member about said pivot means, and means for pivotallyconnecting a driven member to said rocking member at varying distancesfrom said pivot means.

3. A rocking member for transmitting motion from a driving member to adriven member, said rocking member having pivot means, means for drivingsaid rocking member for bodily traversing a part of said rocking memberincluding said pivot means and. for rocking said rocking mem ber aboutsaid pivot means until said rocking member reaches the final end pointin its driven motion, a driven member, and means for connecting saiddriven member to said rock-ing member at varying distances from saidpivot means, while :said rocking memberand driven member are both at theendpoints of their movement, whereby the motions transmitted, to saiddriven-member by said rockingmember will be varied relatively to eachother and said driven member wil-l always be moved to the final endpoint by said rocking member regardless. -of said relativemovementstransmitted to said driven member.

In, a device of-the character indicated, a rocking member fortransmitting motion from driving meansto driven means,-means for causingsaid rocking member to be traversed bodily and subsequentlymocked aboutpivot means to azfinal'limit of movement, driven means, and means forpivotally connecting said driven means to said rocking means, at variousdistances from said pivot means without changing the relative positionsofsaid driven means and rocking member at the limit of movement, forthe-purpose described. i i

5.- In a device of the character indicated, rocking means fortransmittingmotion from driving means to driven means, means for drivingsaid rockingmeans including means to cause said rocking means to bebodily traversed and rocked about pivot means, a driven-member,adjustable pivot means for connecting saiddriven member and said rockingmeans, said pivot means being adjustable on said rocking means and saiddriven means along paths on each which are coincident when said rockingmeans and said driven means are substanially at the final limit ofmovement in at lease one direction.

6. In adevice of the "character indicated, rocking means fortransmitting motion from driving means to a driven means, means fortranslating spacedpointson said rocking mean along parallel pathsandsubsequently stopping translatingmovement of one of said points androcking the other 'ofsaid points about said stopped point, and meansfornconnecting 'a' driven, member to said rocking means, for the purposedescribed.

- 7. In a device of the character indicated, rocking means fortransmitting motion from driving means to driven means, meansfor bodilytraversing said rocking means and rockin one point on saidrocking meansabout another point to a final end point of movement, a driven member,

andmeans for pivotally connecting said driven member and rocking meansat various points at difierent distances from the rocking point of saidrocking means, said various points of pivotal connection beingrespectively coincident with each other when said rockin means anddriven member are at the end points of movement of both of said members.

8. In a device of the character indicated, a rocking member, limitedguide means for guiding said rocking member and constraining the same tomove bodily in astraight path, -eng'ageable pivot means for restrainingone part of said rocking member when said rocking member is disengagedfrom said guiding means, a driving member pivotally connected to saidrocking member whereby said driving member will bodily move said rockingmember when in engagement with said guiding means and will rock saidrocking member about said pivot means when said rocking member has beenmoved beyond said guiding means, and driven means connected to saidrocking meansr -9'. In a device of the character indicated, a rockingmember for transmitting motion from driving meansto driven means, fixedguiding means and fixed pivot means, said rocking member beingengageable with and guided by said guiding means until said rockingmember is moved intoengagement with said fixed pivot means, after whichsaid rocking member may rock about said'fixed pivot means, a pivotallymounted driven member, and means for pivotally connecting said rockingmember to said pivotall'y mounted driven member. I M

1Q. In a device of the character indicated, a rockingmember fortransmittin motion from a driving to a driven member, guidemeans forguiding said rocking member along a fixedfpath of movement, fixed pivotaxis means engageable by said rocking member only when moved apredetermined distance along said fixed path and to a point where saidrocking member is freed from said guide means and is free to rock aboutsaid pivot axis, and driven means driven by said rocking member duringmovement along said fixed path and while rockin V ARTHUR H. JOBERT. v

JEROME J. TARAVELLA.

